2. analog
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'Life Above 20kh' Research Paper, Harmonics (Overtones)

I happened across this study about sound frequencies beyond 20kh. Harmonics (I prefer the term Overtones)

http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~boyk/spectra/spectra.htm

Aside from the study’s purpose, skimming the text is fascinating, sends my/your inquisitive mind in many directions.

Think about your listening room when reading his extremely detailed measurements to ascertain/eliminate any external contributions to his measurements.

Check out the amount of sound energy beyond 20kh of various instruments, crash cymbals particularly revealing. Jangling keys also a surprise.

The comments about a Piano’s Altered Harmonics including the strings/sound board/floor, I found surprising. I’ve always known how difficult it is to record a piano, this must be part of the challenge.

Even though test subjects say they cannot hear the super tweeter, experimenters could measure that the super-frequencies were detected by ..... , awareness and the brain’s perception ability are different things
..................................

Overtones. ’Analog Gets the Overtones Rght’.

I’ve often said, after a whole lotta years, the only way I can begin to explain why I prefer analog, is ’Analog Gets the Overtones Rght’.

Reel to Reel, my noisiest format, is my most preferred source. LP favored over CD. Tubes over SS. Myself, and ANY/EVERYBODY listening here to comparisons over the years has the same preferences.

More reason to get our ears professionally cleaned!!

Elliott




elliottbnewcombjr
rixthetrick's avatar
rixthetrick
1,060 posts
 
So if CD quality is 44.1 kHz and based upon 20 - 20,000hz.
Higher sample rates are still (as far as I know?) still from 20-20,000hz,but those sample rates could be easily quadruple that with modern bandwidths and technology.

Is it plausible that recordings that are captured through a broader frequency range (than considered hearing range), requiring a higher sample rate could bring digital closer to or even as good as analogue?

I have read about how engineers arrived at the sample rates for CD for example, and the OP has posted a paper that may question the basis for the sample rates, that it was an oversight from the beginning?

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cleeds
6,046 posts
 
rixthetrick
Is it plausible that recordings that are captured through a broader frequency range (than considered hearing range), requiring a higher sample rate could bring digital closer to or even as good as analogue?
Sure, it's plausible. Why not listen to some hi-res digital and decide for yourself? Qobuz might be a good place for you to start.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Inadequate sample rate, yes. But oversight? Probably more like just your everyday engineering/marketing tradeoff. Happens all the time.

What I find interesting is when I reported here that my deaf from birth Aunt Bessie could "hear" music it was met with derision and insults. From the Hateful 18 granted, but still. So it was interesting to see in this paper:

"In a paper published in Science, Lenhardt et al. report that "bone-conducted ultrasonic hearing has been found capable of supporting frequency discrimination and speech detection in normal, older hearing-impaired, and profoundly deaf human subjects."

So take that, H18!
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rauliruegas
13,115 posts
 
Dear friends : The human been skin has thousands of nervous ends/terminations that are extremely sensible and detect anything. There are hundreds of it by square mm. and from here goes to our brain.

It’s not only the bones that can detect and are sensible to SPLs but as I posted: hair, skin and all our body and this is not anectdotal issue. All what our full body sense is the experiences on MUSIC/SPLs that are detected and that we live it always.

Here something on the bones:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16019175/


If we wanted something more elaborated then read this:


http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/articles/response-of-human-skull-to-boneconducted-sound-in-the-audiometricultrasonic-range.pdf

and you can take a look to the References at the end of the article.


R.
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